Background: Vaccination is powerful prophylaxis against vaccine-preventable infectious disorders. Children are predisposed to infectious diseases, and as a result, they are more predisposed to mortality. These infectious diseases of children can be prevented by vaccinating the children; however, a significant proportion of children do not receive their scheduled vaccination.
Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the parents regarding childhood Vaccinations in Saudi Arabia.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among Saudi parents using a self-administrated questionnaire during a period of 6 months. The demographics of participants, knowledge, attitude, and practice have been investigated through the questions in the questionnaire.
Results: The mean ± standard deviation of knowledge was 9.37 ± 2.82 and was significantly associated with the age of children (p = 0.027) and source of knowledge (p < 0.001). The major source of knowledge was the primary health care services (81.9%). The large majority of parents (91.6%) reported giving all mandatory vaccination to their children; the practice of parents was significantly associated with the source of knowledge (p = 0.001). There were 63.4% reported that childhood vaccination is very important; the attitude of parents was significantly associated with the score of knowledge (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: There was a good knowledge of parents regarding childhood vaccination with excellent practice and acceptable attitude.
Key words: Childhood, vaccinations, parents, vaccine, children
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